Frankie: The Dog Behind the Logo

Frankie has been the face of my blog since the beginning — and a very handsome one, if I may say so. I’ve never really looked below the surface, though, just glibly referring to him as a terrier mix. What kind of terrier are we talking about? Mixed with what?

It’s time to get on the couch for some analysis, Frankie and …oops, you’re already there!

Let’s start with some vital statistics:

Weight: 10 pounds, more or less.

Length: Loooong…dare I say Dachshund-ish?

Long dog Silver

Coat: Frankie has thin hair, but a lot of it, and it’s fluffy. It grows, but not too fast — luckily for him, because he gets home groomed, and I’ve been known to give him some seriously bad haircuts. He doesn’t shed, but here’s something peculiar: His hair color seems to change at different times of the year. Mostly he’s off-white — or champagne, as he prefers — but he has definite brown highlights that are more prominent on occasion. Is there a pattern to this metamorphosis? Sorry, I haven’t kept track.

Bone structure: Under all that hair there’s a little skinny face and body (see Chinese Crested, below). I thought of taking a picture of him wet to show you, but it’s 20° F here today. And seeing him that way makes me sad because he looks so vulnerable (not to mention pissed off).

Bark: Deep for a small dog. A friend who has a yappier pup compared their vocal effects as jazz vs Chinese opera.

Health issues: Frankie was once diagnosed with a possible slipped disk, which healed with rest and prevention from further leaps off tall structures. And then there’s his diabetes. According to Dr. Linda Fleeman, an Australian expert in canine diabetes, mixed breeds are most commonly affected, but the Samoyed, Cairn terrier, and Tibetan terrier are particularly at risk. Other dogs often noted as predisposed to diabetes are the Australian terrier, beagle, bichon frise, border terrier, dachshund, miniature schnauzer, poodle, standard schnauzer, and Yorkshire terrier.*

More data:

Frankie was saved by my friend Rebecca under the aegis of Arizona Schnauzer Rescue but no one tends to think he looks schnauzerish. As I often say, there just wasn’t any Arizona Cute Fuzzy Dog of Indeterminate Origin rescue group.

Early on, someone suggested that Frankie might be a Chinese Crested. That freaked me out — sorry Chinese Crested fans, but you’ve got to know your breed is always ranked high in Ugliest Dog contests — until I realized there is a hairier and cuter variety, called the Powder Puff.

I once encountered a woman in a parking lot who had a dog that could have been a Frankie clone, the resemblance was that close. Naturally I struck up a conversation with her. She responded to my inquiry about her dog in a thick Latin American accent, “Thees is Cha Cha and shee ees a Terripoo.” I’m still not sure which terri we’re talking about, but thinking about Cha Cha always makes me want to dance!

So what do you think?

*No question: If you match this analysis with his physical characteristics, it seems Frankie was a case of diabetes just waiting to happen; add the steroids taken for his back problems, and it seems almost inevitable.

1. Add your blog name and URL to the Linky Tool below. If you can put the Linky Tool on your own blog, that would be awesome, but it’s not required. Here’s the code for Blogger and WordPress.org blogs:
<script src=”http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=74086″ type=”text/javascript”></script>

P.S. According to code queen Janet (see #2) I have used curly quotes instead of straight quotes so the code doesn’t work. They look straight on this end — and I cut and pasted what I used — but if your quotes are curly, you go straighten them out!

2. Grab our Magical Mystery Mutt Tour Blog Hop Badge and include it on your post (also optional). Not optional. A BIG thank you to Janet Merriman at Rough Toy Reviews for creating the wonderful badge!

3. Follow the co-hosts and comment on our blogs to let us know you’ve joined the hop and that you like us.

4. Check out the other blogs on the Linky and have a guess fest!

Hint: include at least two pictures and as much data as possible to help us ID your mystery pup

In the first picture, the side shot, I get a Yorkie feeling. I know the colouring is all wrong, but everything else reminds me of a charming Yorkshire Terrier named Bill Murray from Jack’s obedience training classes. In fact, I happen to have a “side shot” of him:http://puplove.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/DSCN0480-300×225.jpg

Thanks, Georgia. I’m actually quite fond of hairless breeds myself –I have fantasies about getting a Mexican breed called the Xoloitzcuintli. It’s the weird shock of hair on the head that makes the Chinese Crested look freaky to me. If you’re going to be hairless, be hairless!

Maybe it’s just too early, but I’m not finding the code to hookup my blog to the hop. Xena’s linked up though, even though her muttable self was not so much of a mystery. It was fun to remember her with a little tribute. Thanks for hosting. If you can share the code, drop me a line at LetsAdoptaDogPark@gmail.com. Thanks!

Thanks… got it. I had to change the quotation marks in your script to straight quotes to get it to work… just cutting and pasting puts in the curly quotes, which don’t work… if you can replace the quotes in your text above, more people will be successful in getting the code to work.

As I said in my update — which oh so belatedly thanked you for creating the badge! — those quotes looked straight to me. And I just cut and pasted from what I used. But perhaps others will find a solution in uncurling those quotes.

there are so many possibilities for adorable fluffy white cuties like Frankie! I think you could just make up an awesome designer dog name and say it with conviction… Frankie is a Crested Dandi! Frankie is a YorkaDin… this could be fun!

The directions said to let you know we like you. Thanks for doing this. I can’t get the links to work on Typepad although I have been able to with previous links. I’m not sure why. It could be that I’m not awake yet.

Thanks, Jan! There are other instructions for Typepad, I believe, but I can’t get to them because they are on a computer in a room near where my houseguests are staying and I don’t want to wake them because my pipes are frozen which means we have no water and I would like to delay letting them know they can shower or flush the toilet as long as possible…

Well, you can claim Frankie as your mystery mutt friend, even though you haven’t personally met him. You would know exactly how to behave towards him because of Sadie (whom we love, even if she is purebred).

Hmm…for some reason, wheaten terrier comes to mind although I know they’re larger than Frankie. But maybe wheaten terrier and dachshund (or mini dachshund)? Wheaten, Cairn, and doxie? Regardless of the mix, he definitely came out as a purebred cutie!

Frankie is a cute little dog, no doubt about that. If only I knew more about breeds… From what I know, he looks a bit like a bichon, which is quite a popular breed here. The muzzle sure suggests that.
I’m also following you on facebook and twitter and decided to join the hop.

Up close and personal (sorry, Frankie, I wasn’t being fresh, just trying to groom you), Our Hero does have the face and muzzle of a Yorkie, although he certainly does not have the coat or coloration. His ruler-of-my-personal-kingdom personality is also Yorkie-ish. But I have no idea what else went into creating that incredibly cute package, DNA-wise.
About that Arizona Schnauzer Rescue moniker, when I was their Tucson rep I was definitely a naughty rescuer, when it came to sticking to just schnauzers. I always figured that if a dog was small and cute and cuddly, I could find a home for him or her. And I wasn’t going to be a racist about it all! Especially not when a little guy, like Frankie, had flunked out of another rescue and was on his way to doggie death row!!!

Frankie thanks you all for coming by and trying to unravel the secret of his identity, and hopes others will continue showering him with attention. He thinks Bichons, Cairns, and Yorkies — which have dominated the guesses — are all very attractive but so far likes Alison’s suggestion of telling people he’s “a Frankie” best.

What a cutie! I had a yorkie thought mostly because of Frankie’s size and the color changes. Opie has some grey and brown “highlights” that come and go. I’m pretty sure that that’s a yorkie thing. I’d throw in some poodle as well. My best friend had a toy poodle that looked tremendously like Frankie. His name was Snow. If Frankie likes to jump ( ergo causing back trouble) then I feel more confident about the poodle. Is Frankie hypoallergenic — both dog’s I’ve mentioned don’t make me sneeze. Bichon is definitely a possiblity as well.

Well, we know your Frankie isn’t related to my Frankie but he’s equally as cute, handsome and lovable:) I’m going to go with toy Poodle, Bichon and Yorkie. Thanks for hosting a fun Hop. I’m never going to get around everybody!!

This is the hop I so wanted to do because I have two mixes. But, in the middle of moving and life is a huge mess at the moment. In any event, at first I thought I definitely saw Bichon in Frankie but then one photo looks more like a Maltese mix. There’s gotta be dachshund in there with that bod 😉

We would have loved to have you take part, but I understand and appreciate your taking the time out of the craziness of your move to stop by. Good luck with it; moving is one of the most stressful things people can do. I hope that, in addition to stopping here, you’re hopping around and looking at lots of cute pictures of mutts! That’s got to lower your stress levels!

Well whatever he is mixed with, he’s gorgeous. I thought, before seeing his dachsund body, of west highland terrier, like my Dougie. Dougie is pure breed, his hair thick though and body sturdy but not as long as Frankie. Dougie too when wet looks forlorn and pathetically skinny!! Definitely mouth, nose and eyes very westie though.

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